Garnish

Methods

In a large pot, heat a little oil. Add the onion and garlic and fry off until transparent and fragrant.

Add the potato, sweet potato, pumpkin carrot, split peas, lentils, barley and stock. Reduce to a slow simmer and cook with the lid on for an hour or two. The pumpkin should dissolve to enhance the stock while the sweet potato and potato hold their form.

Add the remaining ingredients including the tomato and simmer lightly with the lid off for a further hour or so until all vegetables are tender. The stock should thicken to the desired texture.

To serve, add a few small chunks of pecorino cheese to the bowl and cover with hot soup. Season with salt and pepper and serve with crusty bread.

Observations

This is a perfect dish for a slow cooker. Sauté the onions and garlic in a saucepan before adding them to the slow cooker with peas, lentils, barley and root vegetables and cook for 4 hours. Add the softer vegetables and cook for an additional two hours before serving.

I grew up with this soup so I know the awesomeness of the cheese in the soup. I realise it sounds exceptionally strange and I would only do it with a very strong sharp cheese such as a pepper pecorino, but the cheese melts to a chewy gooey consistency that mostly holds its form. Finding a piece on your spoon is like a sudden surprise and burst of flavour – the pot of gold beneath the rainbow. I highly recommend you try it for yourself! (So what if I had six pieces of cheese in my bowl. Who’s counting, right?)

Serve it hot for the best taste. I always make a huge stock pot full and we have it for lunches for days without anyone getting bored with it.

Diabetic Note: This soup is the very picture of hearth, healthy winter dinners. There is such a small amount of barley and potato in the meal that it doesn’t really count towards carbohydrate exchanges. I usually have it with a slice of hot crusty bread (divine for dipping!) to make sure I have enough carbs in the meal.

Ethical Note: Using vegetables in season means that they have not been shipped from far and wide (often overseas!). All the better for the economy and environment if you use local produce. Finally, organic lentils and legumes mean the very best in farming practices for sustainability and that one small purchase wont hurt the hip pocket because of their low price.

6 responses to “Vegetable soup fit for the gods!”

narf7

May 26, 2012 at 10:55 pm

WHEW! Finally I made it through my exponentially increasing rss feed reading list! This is your fault you know Rhianna…if I hadn’t learned about rss feed from you I would still be grizzling about my inbox rather than wading through acres of glorious food porn, environmental delight and sustainable websites…being the hoarding magpie that I am I keep adding several every day…I have the sad misfortune of having to check out blogs that I love blogrolls and invariably I find at least 1 new “FANTASTIC” blog to follow…at this rate I will only get down my massive list to see you once a week! Gotta say this soup looks heavenly. We just had soup for tea tonight, perfect weather for it for sure! I don’t have cheese so won’t be having that but the rest of the soup looks like my idea of heaven 🙂

Pumpkin is pretty awesome at adding vitamins, body and flavour to a soup. I like a hearty vegetable soup with lots of things in it for variety! Lentils always add some protein which is great. Let me know how you go!